Farmers’ protest: Confusion over meeting venue, Amit Shah meets farmers at ICAR

Initially, it was decided that farmers will meet Amit Shah at his residence at 7pm, but the meeting started after 8pm at Indian Council of Agricultural Research.

The meeting between Union home minister Amit Shah and the leaders of the protesting farmers on Tuesday got delayed owing to a confusion over the venue of the meeting. The meeting was scheduled to begin at 7pm but it began after 8pm as some of the union leaders were not ready to hold the meeting at Amit Shah’s residence. Finally, the meeting was shifted to the office of Indian Council of Agricultural Research.

The meeting was scheduled to be held at Amit Shah’s residence but the venue was later changed. (PTI)

According to PTI, 13 farmer leaders were called for the meeting which included eight from Punjab and five from various nationwide organisations. Some farmer leaders said they first expected the meeting to take place at Shah’s residence here, but the venue was shifted to the Pusa area, PTI reported. Bhartiya Kisan Union national spokesperson Rajesh Tikait even reached Amit Shah’s residence at around 7pm.

The meeting assumes significance as Union home minister Amit Shah’s intervention comes after the farmers called a four-hour symbolic protest on Tuesday, which evoked mixed response across the country, but received massive political support from opposition parties and regional parties. On Wednesday, the farmers and the Centre are scheduled to meet for the sixth time to discus the farmers’ grievances over the farm laws enacted in September.

Ahead of the meeting with Shah, the farmers said they will demand just a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer from Shah on whether the laws that the farmers fear will make them vulnerable to the exploitation of the corporates. “We will demand just a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ from Home Minister Amit Shah,” farmer leader Rudru Singh Mansa said.

In their last meeting with the Centre on Saturday, the leaders observed ‘maun vrat’ and put up placards ‘yes’, ‘no’ written on them, which led to a deadlock and the Centre asked for some time to come up with an alternative proposal. Since the laws were passed in Parliament, the farmers have been voicing concerns against the reforms, which the Centre has termed as pro-farmer. From November 26, thousands of farmers from Punjab, Haryana started ‘Dilli Chalo’ rally with their tractors and managed to enter Delhi. The protest entered its 13th day on Tuesday with no solution to the stalemate in sight yet.